The invention relates to flexible connector tubing, and more particularly to a flex tube joint providing torsion relief.
Connector tubing provided by flex tubes have various ducting and exhaust applications where the inlet and outlet are not aligned or otherwise have a tortuous flow path therebetween. It is common to provide spiral flex tubes for such applications.
It has been found that a significant cause of failure in flexible connector tube applications is torsional twisting of the flex tubes relative to each other. The twisting causes cracking or fracture of the tubes and/or the joint therebetween. The present invention addresses and solves this problem of torsion causing damage to the flex tubes. The present invention provides torsion relief by allowing the flex tubes to twist relative to each other, thus reducing torsion to a minimum. This extends the life expectancy of the flex tubes.